Pilot – June 2018

86 | Pilot June 2018 | pilotweb.aero

A round-up of historic aircraft display and restoration news

A Vintage Sun ’n Fun

The ever-popular Sun ’n Fun

International Fly-in & Expo took

place from 10-15 April on the

south side of Lakeland Linder

Airport, Florida. Bad weather

affected its opening and closing

days but the event otherwise

enjoyed near-perfect conditions.

Public attendance and warbird

levels were both well up on

recent years and the WWII

fighters count was the largest for

some time.

Making its second public

appearance after last year’s EAA

AirVenture Oshkosh, Rod Lewis’s

Douglas A-20 Havoc N747HS

took the Grand Champion

Warbird title. There were two

further Lewis Air Legends fleet

aircraft present: F8F-2 Bearcat

N14WB, rarely seen outside

Texas; and P-38F Lightning

N17630 Glacier Girl. The latter

joined the Cavanaugh Flight

Museum’s P-40N Warhawk

and a 20th Fighter Wing F-16C

Fighting Falcon to make up

the impressive USAF Heritage

Flight. Its US Navy equivalent,

the Tailhook Legacy Flight,

comprised an F/A-18F Super

Hornet from VFA-106 and Jim

Tobul’s F4U-4. A second Corsair

present, Goodyear-built FG-1D

N43FG, which Barry Avent

returned to flight in South

Carolina in 2014, was judged the

Best WWII Fighter.

Several Mustangs took part

and there was a rare appearance

of the late David Tallichet’s

B-17G 44-83546, ‘The Movie’

Memphis Belle, while a second

B-17G, the Commemorative Air

Force (CAF) Gulf Coast Wing’s

Texas Raiders, took part in the

flying display’s Tora! Tora! Tora!

sequence. The CAF Dixie Wing

provided Bell P-63A-6 Kingcobra

Old Timers

Compiled by Peter R March and Paul Fiddian

Douglas A-20 Havoc N747HS - Sun ’n Fun’s

Grand Champion Warbird

ABOVE: USAF Heritage

Flight trio of F-16C

Fighting Falcon, P-40N

Warhawk and P-38F

Lightning Glacier Girl

CAF B-17G Texas Raiders in the explosive

Tora! Tora! Tora! setpiece

Two generations of NACA/NASA: CAF’s ex-NACA

Bell P-63A-6 Kingcobra and NASA’s T-38A Talon

PHOTOS: NIGEL HITCHMAN

PHOTO: FRANK MORMILLO